50 Tips to Improve Your Work From Home Life

Remote work in the U.S. increased by 159% from 2005 to 2017, according to data from FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, 4.7 million people—about 3.4% of the population—worked from home. In light of social-distancing and shelter-in-place orders, that number has jumped exponentially in the last month and is expected to continue climbing throughout 2020.

New rules that have forced otherwise on-site jobs to establish remote-work policies have shed light on how feasible it is for most workers to do their jobs from the comfort of their home offices (or kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms). But working from home, while convenient, presents its own set of challenges. Establishing boundaries with roommates and spouses, ensuring you have the right gear, perfecting your lighting for video conferences, and hammering out a daily routine you can stick to—all while finding time to exercise, virtually socialize with loved ones, and figuring out a reasonable work-life balance—isn’t inherently easy to pull off.

From managing too many open tabs on your browser to writing off work-related expenses, we’ve taken some of our own experience, and that of millions of professionals with experience working from home, to give you a bunch of insights meant to optimize your productivity and preserve your personal life.